February 16-17, 2020
Feb 16 01:14 Obama DOJ's missing integrity Feb 16 07:48 Spring is officially here Feb 16 08:56 Indicting Juror 1261 (Tomeka Hart) Feb 16 15:46 California's democratic tyranny Feb 16 18:00 Bloomberg's economic policies would kill Trump's economy Feb 16 22:22 Are Democrats taking the fun out of dysfunctional? Feb 17 08:46 Democrats' race to the bottom Feb 17 09:50 President Trump's race to the top Feb 17 16:05 Barr vs. Deep State prosecutors
Prior Months: Jan
Prior Years:
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
Obama DOJ's missing integrity
Whether we're talking about Eric Holder, Loretta Lynch or Sally Yates, we aren't talking about people of integrity. Holder is the only US Attorney General to be held in contempt of Congress . In fact, the "vote was 255-67, with 17 Democrats voting in support of a criminal contempt resolution, which authorizes Republicans leaders to seek criminal charges against Holder."
Loretta Lynch met with Bill Clinton to
In this article , Ms. Yates wrote "The president has attempted to order up investigations of his perceived political enemies and enlist the department to protect his friends. With every blow, the wall of Justice independence has wobbled a bit more. This week, it teetered on the verge of collapse."
That's frightening, but predictable. It's predictable because Ms. Yates was terminated for insubordination. She defied President Trump's order to defend his travel ban, a ban that the Supreme Court upheld as constitutional. That's the textbook case of insubordination or mutiny. Yates continued:
The facts are well known: After federal prosecutors in the Roger Stone case filed the department's sentencing memorandum, the president publicly attacked Justice's position as "horrible and very unfair." He called for prosecution of the "real crimes : on the other side," a mantra that has become so commonplace from him that it goes largely without comment. The prosecutors were ordered by Justice Department leadership to significantly cut their recommendation; they refused, and all four resigned from the case, with one quitting his job entirely.
What's most disgusting is that Bill Barr, the properly confirmed Attorney General, overruled the rogue prosecutors, not President Trump. What's next most disgusting is Ms. Yates' insinuation that the so-called career prosecutors are pure-hearted people who play by the rules and only have America's best interests at heart. That's BS.
These prosecutors ignored what the Attorney General and the US Attorney for DC recommended for sentencing. Then these rogue prosecutors quit when their supervisors clipped their wings after the prosecutors recommended Roger Stone serve a prison sentence of 7-to-9 years. That's twice the length that the average rapist in DC receives in that court.
I'd love hearing Ms. Yates justify why a first time offender who didn't commit a violent crime should receive a 9-year sentence but a violent offender should get a 4 year sentence. Further, I'd love hearing Ms. Yates explain why she thinks it's ok for prosecutors to ignore the orders of their supervisors. Frankly, if they hadn't quit, I would've wished that Barr would've fired them. Check out the montage in this video:
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Since Ms. Yates didn't tell you what happened, Kim Strassel will :
Justice sources tell me that interim U.S. Attorney Tim Shea had told the department's leadership he and other career officials in the office felt the proposed sentence was excessive. As the deadline for the filing neared, the prosecutors on the case nonetheless threatened to withdraw from the case unless they got their demands for these stiffest of penalties. Mr. Shea - new to the job - suffered a moment of cowardice and submitted to this ultimatum. The filing took Justice Department leaders by surprise, and the decision to reverse was made well before Mr. Trump tweeted, and with no communication with the White House. The revised filing, meanwhile, had the signature of the acting supervisor of the office's criminal division, who is a career civil servant, not a political appointee.
In other words, the rogue prosecutors persecuted Mr. Stone because he's a longtime political ally of President Trump. I'm not condoning what Stone did, though I don't know that there shouldn't be a mistrial due to the jury foreperson's blatant bias. If he's guilty of lying to Congress, then it's proper for him to serve 2-3 years.
The DOJ can't properly function without people of integrity who follow the rules. These prosecutors aren't, in my opinion, people of integrity. They certainly didn't follow the chain of command. President Trump tweeted after Bill Barr filed a new recommendation with the court. It's impossible for President Trump to interfere after-the-fact.
Posted Sunday, February 16, 2020 1:14 AM
No comments.
Spring is officially here
This time next week, spring will be officially here. The calendar-makers won't recognize that but Twins fans certainly notice it. That's because the Twins are coming off a 101-win season and a productive offseason.
Last season was a magical season but that's last season exclusively. Great teams try building off their previous year's team. That's definitely the path that the Twins took this offseason. Heading into the offseason, Derek Falvey, the Twins Chief of Baseball Operations, identified top-of-the-rotation starting pitching as their highest priority.
When that didn't work out, though, Falvey and Twins GM Thad Levine switched priorities, signing superstar third baseman Josh Donaldson to a 4-year, $92,000,000 contract. Earlier in the offseason, the Twins extended Miguel Sano's contract through 2023. When they signed Donaldson to play third, they announced that Sano would move to first base. That's a pair of corner infielders who hit 71 HRs last season. That duo might hit 80 HRs this season. Sano hit 34 last year despite missing the first month of the season.
The Twins re-signed relief pitcher Sergio Romo, then signed Tyler Clippard to round out their versatile bullpen. Just when Twins fans thought that's the roster that the Twins would go to spring training with, Falvine jumped into a blockbuster 3-team trade. In the deal that was just finalized, the Twins got starting pitcher Kenta Maeda from the Dodgers in exchange for Brusdar Graterol. The Twins also received minor league C Jair Camargo and cash considerations from the Dodgers organization. The Dodgers, in addition to Graterol from the Twins, got "minor league OF Luke Raley and the 67th overall pick in the 2020 draft" from the Twins.
Once the Twins get rolling, the Twins rotation will include Maeda, Jose Berrios, Michael Pineda, Jake Odorizzi and Rich Hill. The Twins bullpen will include closer Taylor Rogers, back-of-the-bullpen guys Tyler Duffey, Romo and Trevor May. Filling out the Twins' bullpen will be Cody Stashak and Zack Littell.
I've saved the best for last, which is the Twins batting order. Luis Arraez will likely lead off, followed by Mr. Donaldson, Nelson Cruz, Eddie Rosario, Sano, Mitch Garver, Jorge Polanco, Max Kepler and Byron Buxton. Who knows where super-utility player Marwin Gonzalez fits into the batting order or lineup? It's a nice headache to have. The backup catcher will be Alex Avila. The backup infielder will be Ehire Adrianza.
Rest assured that I'll be watching the TV when the Twins play the Toronto Blue Jays at noon CT on Feb. 23. Jose Berrios is scheduled to start that game.
The expectations for this team will be high this season. The Twins payroll might exceed $150,000,000 for the first time ever. It's time to scrap the 'Jim Pohlad is cheap' cliche. It won't be enough to make the playoffs. This team has one of the deepest, if not the deepest, batting order in the game. The Twins won 101 games last year by beating up teams like Kansas City, Chicago, Seattle, Baltimore, etc.
This year, that isn't good enough. This year, the expectation is to start beating the best teams regularly. The question isn't whether the Twins should expect to win an ALDS series. The expectation should be to play in the World Series.
Last year, the Twins surprised some people. After winning 101 games last year, that isn't possible this year. That's ok because the Twins have a deep lineup, good-to-excellent position depth in the minors and the ability to add important playoff pieces at the trade deadline. That should excite Twins fans. They haven't had a team this talented since 1991.
Posted Sunday, February 16, 2020 7:48 AM
Comment 1 by Chad Q at 16-Feb-20 09:41 AM
Spending money to spend money is not smart. Signing a 34 yr old player with a history of injury might not have been the best thing to do but only time will tell. The chances of them leading the league in HR's is probably not good and that was how they won a lot of games. The Twins may be better but so are the Yankees and unless they can solve the problem of losing to them, they will not move past the first round.
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 16-Feb-20 09:58 PM
Remember that the Astros won't be as good this year with all their turmoil and the loss of Gerrit Cole. There's still a strong chance of the Twins meeting the Astros in the ALDS, with the Yankees meeting the winner of the Wild Card play-in.
Comment 2 by eric z at 16-Feb-20 10:53 AM
Pitching wins.
Response 2.1 by Gary Gross at 16-Feb-20 10:00 PM
Hitting wins but pitching wins championships. Let's see how the season shapes up. If the Twins can get a stud pitcher at the deadline, they've got the chips to get that pitcher.
Comment 3 by Rex newman at 16-Feb-20 02:55 PM
For me, the Daytona 500 is the first hope of spring, and the Masters with all that lovely green scenery says it's all but here at least.
Response 3.1 by Gary Gross at 16-Feb-20 10:03 PM
It's your choice, my friend. It was cool today watching the Beast make its way around the track. Emily Compagno tweeted "22,000 lbs. of bad-ass." Exactly right!
Indicting Juror 1261 (Tomeka Hart)
Jonathan Turley's op-ed should infuriate every civil libertarian across this nation. In the second paragraph of Prof. Turley's op-ed, he wrote "Juror 1261, we now know, was Tomeka Hart. Her identity would have remained publicly unknown except for a public statement she made after the Department of Justice (DOJ) rescinded its initial sentencing recommendation for Trump confidant Roger Stone. In the midst of the firestorm of allegations of political interference, Hart disclosed that she was the foreperson on the Stone jury and gave a full-throated defense of the trial prosecutors: 'It pains me to see the DOJ now interfere with the hard work of the prosecutors.'"
Prof. Turley added "That statement led many people to Google her name, and what they found was a litany of postings not only hostile to President Trump and his administration but also specifically commenting on Stone and his arrest - before she ever appeared for jury duty." What happened after that is frightening. Prof. Turley's op-ed was essentially an opposition research dump on Hart. Check this out:
Hart is a Democratic activist and critic of the Trump administration. She was the Memphis City Schools board president. Not surprisingly, given her political background (including a run for Congress), Hart has been vocal in public on her views of Trump and his associates.
She referred to the President with a hashtag of "klanpresident" and spoke out against "Trump and the white supremacist racists." She posted about how she and others protested outside a Trump hotel and shouted, "Shame, shame, shame!" When profanities were projected on the Trump hotel, she exclaimed on Jan. 13, 2018, 'Gotta love it.' On March 24, 2019, she shared a Facebook post - no longer public - while calling attention to "the numerous indictments, guilty pleas, and convictions of people in 45's inner-circle."
More worrisome are her direct references to Stone, including a retweeted post, in January 2019, from Bakari Sellers, again raising racist associations and stating that "Roger Stone has y'all talking about reviewing use of force guidelines." She also described Trump supporters such as Stone as racists and Putin cronies.
In addition to her prior statements about Trump, his associates and this case, Hart is a lawyer. That only magnifies concerns that any bias on her part may have had a more pronounced influence on her fellow jurors.
WOW. How could such a person become part of a jury, much less the jury foreperson? Here's how:
The brief examination in the voir dire hearing shows that Hart did disclose her ties to the Democratic Party. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson asked if Hart's political history would prevent her from being fair, and Hart assured her it would not.
Part of the problem, in hindsight, is that Stone's attorney didn't know any of this information. Prof. Turley explains that this might be because he's incompetent or "uninformed."
It certainly seems Hart had no place on the Stone jury. The Supreme Court has repeatedly declared that the "minimal standards of due process" demand "a panel of impartial, indifferent jurors." Hart's record suggests little that is impartial or indifferent. She was perfectly within her right to engage in such commentary and protests - but she had no right to sit in judgment of an associate of the president after her public declarations. Her participation raises serious arguments for setting aside the verdict, from the possibility of ineffective counsel to the denial of due process.
This doesn't prove that Stone is innocent. It's just proof that the trial is subject to extensive questioning. The process must be fair from start to finish. That's the only way justice is consistently done. This exposes Tomeka Hart's duplicity:
[Video no longer available]
I have to believe that lying or, at minimum, not telling the whole truth, to the judge carries with it a penalty. Apparently, Tomeka Hart is as shady as Roger Stone. She deserves some sort of punishment. This type of behavior isn't acceptable.
Posted Sunday, February 16, 2020 8:56 AM
Comment 1 by Chad Q at 16-Feb-20 09:36 AM
Is it really lying to a judge when the whole premise of how you got caught was illegal in the first place? How is it any different than the cops not having a search warrant to gather evidence and that evidence being thrown out in court? Everyone nabbed in the whole fake dossier/Russian collusion scam should be set free or pending charges dropped.
California's democratic tyranny
There's nothing democratic about how California is getting run politically these days. This article highlights how California's ruling class couldn't care less what their constituents say. One of the people that's getting ignored is Gloria Rivera. California's ruling class features a woman named Lorena Gonzalez. Here's how California's ruling class is changing Californians:
When Gloria Rivera, a San Diego-based, Peruvian-born translator and interpreter, achieved U.S. citizenship, the first thing she did was register as a Democrat. "Now I'm seeing a lot of people like me who are either going Independent or Republican," she says, "myself included. The Democrats are not listening to us . "
There's little doubt that California's politicians don't listen to Californians. That's what makes California's politicians part of the problem. Democrats, in general, aren't good listeners. The last Democrat that was a good listener is Bill Clinton. Nancy Pelosi, the most famous California Democrat, is a terrible listener.
Online and in person, independent contractors are confronting Gonzalez and demanding a repeal of the law. Her condescending response: independent contractors need the protection of union-driven labor laws. In a damning KUSI news interview, Gonzalez denied that AB5 has resulted in widespread income loss. Her dismissive attitude has fueled outrage against Democrats.
Gonzalez' dismissive attitude is triggering a political backlash:
"I see a revolution on the horizon," says David Mills, a musician from Lake Elsinore who created the Facebook group Freelancers against PRO Act. "This may be the final straw that breaks the camel's back. But I think it's leading to something good. The American people on all sides are waking up. We've gotten too caught up in partisan support. Now we're paying attention. There is a huge uprising. People had to lose their jobs to find out what it was."
It's taken time for this resentment to build to this level but it's getting there. There's a timeless cliche that's worth remembering in this situation. It goes like this "Beware the wrath of a patient man."
This fits people who are patient and even-tempered. The fuse on their temper is longer than most. That doesn't mean there isn't an end to it. When that fuse hits that gun powder, the explosion is just as violent as the person with a short fuse. This situation has taken a ton of time to build into a major explosion.
California used to be known as the Golden State. That's why its population grew each year. That ended this year when, for the first time in California's history, it didn't gain a congressional seat in reapportionment. Things are changing. What that means still hasn't been determined but it's changing. For some reason, this song just fits:
[Video no longer available]
Here's hoping that the California revolution starts soon. Here's hoping that the revolution, when it happens, is a big one. Getting the state straightened out would result in a huge change for the better.
Posted Sunday, February 16, 2020 3:46 PM
Comment 1 by Nick at 18-Feb-20 04:44 PM
I currently live in Tulsa, Oklahoma and work as an Aviation Maintenance Technician for American Airlines. The cost of living here is very affordable. I'm renting a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom apartment for under $900/month, with utilities about $925/month. I would never live this good in most places.
Bloomberg's economic policies would kill Trump's economy
Doug Schoen's op-ed is a valiant attempt to prevent a major political trainwreck. That isn't likely since Schoen admits that studying the New Hampshire Primary "results reveals a Democratic Party at war with itself." It isn't a stretch to say that uniting the Democratic Party is difficult. Later in his op-ed, Schoen talks about Bernie as a socialist, which he is, and the moderates running. It's insulting to hear Democrats talking about moderates as Democrat presidential candidates.
Schoen's boss, Michael Bloomberg, is running as a moderate. That's BS on steroids. With all the attention paid to Bloomberg's racist statements this week, it isn't surprising that few people know that Bloomberg wants to blow up the economy.
This article , published by Bloomberg's newspaper, highlights the fact that a Bloomberg administration would feature a $5,000,000,000,000 tax hike. According to the article, "Michael Bloomberg said Saturday he would raise taxes on the wealthy, increase the corporate tax rate, and curb tax-free inheritances of large estates, elements of a tax plan that he says would raise $5 trillion over a decade."
Then there's this:
Bloomberg's plan serves to show how he'd pay for an array of proposed new spending initiatives, which so far top $3 trillion. But his campaign cautioned that the tax plan could still change as the former New York mayor rolls out even more policy plans in the near future.
TRANSLATION: Bloomberg's tax hike might go higher if he tries buying more votes.
Later, Schoen wrote this:
Moreover, Bloomberg is working to do exactly what the Democratic Party needs to do, working to unite African American voters, Hispanic voters, White voters, progressives, moderates and voters with varying degrees of education, so that the Democratic movement against Trump spans wider than the party's base.
What Schoen doesn't admit is that President Trump has cut into huge parts of the Democrats' base. By signing the First Step Act and by highlighting school choice, opportunity scholarships and Opportunity Zones, President Trump is cutting into the Democrats' base of minority voters. Democrats aren't proactively reaching out to minority communities. Instead, Democrats are taking these communities for granted.
The dirty little secret is that President Trump is uniting minority communities through prosperity opportunities. Mike Bloomberg's $5,000,000,000,000 tax hike would kill those prosperity opportunities. Further, this segment, on CNN of all places, isn't uniting Democrats:
[Video no longer available]
Bloomberg's long-held position on stop-and-frisk won't unite Democrats. His #MeToo problems won't unite Democrats, either. Bloomberg's $5,000,000,000,000 tax hike will unite independents and Republicans. At this point, the economy is uniting people around President Trump. This is hilarious:
To counteract Trump's relative strengths, it is critical that the Democratic Party coalesces around a cohesive, inclusive, pro-growth message centered on jobs, the economy, health care and advancing equality of opportunity, while also highlighting President Trump's own policy failures in these areas.
What a joke. Most of the Democrats' presidential candidates are socialists or a step removed from being socialists. There's no such thing as pro-growth socialist economic policies.
I almost feel sorry for Schoen. That's because he's caught betwixt and between defending Bloomberg's anti-capitalist tax policies, Bloomberg's government-knows-best nanny state policies and Bloomberg's gun control policies.
Posted Sunday, February 16, 2020 6:00 PM
Comment 1 by eric z at 17-Feb-20 12:07 PM
Bloomberg has a wallet. No policy really. Only a wallet. Where do you see any real "policy" from that camp?
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 17-Feb-20 12:37 PM
He wants to raise taxes by $5,000,000,000,000. That's a policy. It's counterproductive but it's a policy. Bloomberg thinks that throwing kids against the wall will fix crime. That's policy. It isn't the brightest policy but it's policy. Just because you don't like Bloomberg's policies doesn't mean he doesn't have any policies.
Are Democrats taking the fun out of dysfunctional?
Apparently, with Democrats, once just isn't enough. Having totally screwed up Iowa's caucuses, Democrats aren't satisfied. According to PJ Media's reporting , Nevada Democrats are intent on taking the fun out of dysfunctional:
In interviews, three caucus volunteers described serious concerns about rushed preparations for the Feb. 22 election, including insufficient training for a newly-adopted electronic vote-tally system and confusing instructions on how to administer the caucuses. There are also unanswered questions about the security of Internet connections at some 2,000 precinct sites that will transmit results to a central "war room" set up by the Nevada Democratic Party.
What could possibly go wrong? Here's what might go wrong:
Some volunteers who will help run caucuses at precinct locations said they have not been trained on iPads that the party purchased to enter and transmit vote counts. Party officials scrambled to streamline their vote reporting system, settling on Google forms accessible through a saved link on the iPads, after scrapping a pair of apps they'd been planning to use until a similar app caused the fiasco in Iowa two weeks ago.
The Democrats' problem isn't the caucuses. The Democrats' problem is that they don't run things. Democrats don't fix things, either. Democrats aren't skilled problem-solvers. The Democratic Party was stronger when they had lots of governors. Bill Clinton was a governor who ran things. Barack Obama was a professor, then a senator. He didn't run things. He just talked a lot. President Clinton made life better for people. President Obama didn't make life better for people.
Bloomberg has run things but he's cozied up to the nastiest people on earth. He's done his best to ignore the Chinese leadership's corruption. He's even said that "Xi Jinping isn't a dictator." Seriously, he said that:
[Video no longer available]
Bloomberg isn't an idiot. He just plays one on TV when he's trying to pander to the Chinese. Bloomberg is just a globalist who will sell out his nation so he can keep China open for business. His business. He's President Trump's opposite. President Trump stood up to China. Then he got them to cave on forced technology transfers and intellectual property theft. What about Bloomberg? He didn't care how many Americans he had to sell out. He just cared about profits.
How will Bernie's Bros take that? Bloomberg didn't just sell us out. He's attempting to buy the White House so he can sell us out. I'm not ok with that. I'm totally not ok with that. It's ok to make profits. It isn't ok to sell out this incredible nation.
Back to Nevada, though. Democrats have had 3+ weeks to put a system in place. They still haven't put that fool-proof system together. I don't know if they ever will. These Democrats are the 'Gang who can't think straight.' Bill Clinton at least kept the trains running on time. Obama didn't care if there were trains that ran. Bernie doesn't care about anything except stealing everyone's private health care. Trusting him with running our nation's health care is as stupid as trusting an arsonist to put out a fire.
Posted Sunday, February 16, 2020 10:22 PM
No comments.
Democrats' race to the bottom
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the Democrats' presidential candidates are competing with each other in their race to Battleground State irrelevancy. Whether it's Bernie Sanders, Amy Klobuchar, Joe Biden or Elizabeth Warren wanting to kill fossil fuels, or Mike Bloomberg insisting that farming is simple, city slicker Democrats apparently think that they can win the White House without winning midwestern battleground states.
While this won't hurt Democrats with primary voters, it'll sting the Democrats' nominee in the general election, especially if Mike Bloomberg is the nominee. Picture the reaction Bloomberg would get across the Midwest when this video goes viral:
1) @MikeBloomberg clearly doesn't understand how complex farming is
2) He can say goodbye to any support he might have had in Middle America ? https://t.co/mfNxaltJag
- Lauren Chen (@TheLaurenChen) February 16, 2020
This is Bloomberg's 'Basket of Deplorables' moment. That video can be deployed in multiple settings. First, it can be used to show he's simply hostile to farmers. Next, it can be used to show that he really isn't interested in uniting the country. Third, it can be used to ask how many other things he'll have to apologize for. He's already apologized for Stop-Question-and-Frisk.
The truth is that Mr. Bloomberg has said some rather heartless things. When he talked about throwing minorities up against the wall, he was either in his late 60s or early 70s. Shouldn't he have known the ramifications of his statements? It isn't like he was a reckless teenager when he said that.
Sen. Warren's policies aren't that appealing and she lies about virtually everything. At a time when people crave authenticity, she's a phony. This weekend, Amy Klobuchar started flip-flopping while pandering for vote. How will that work? Joe Biden has been disparaging people while calling them disgusting names. He's told them to vote for other candidates, too. Based on Iowa and New Hampshire, they've taken his instructions to heart.
Then there's Bernie. He wants to eliminate private health care at a time when Democrats can't even do simple math at their caucuses. Democrats still haven't finished recanvassing the Iowa Caucuses results, which was 2 weeks ago. They want us to think that they're proficient at figuring out complexities in the health care laws? I don't think so.
Bernie will have difficulty defending President Trump's attacks. Bernie wants to keep his money but he wants other millionaires to pay their fair share. Bernie's policies will cripple this booming economy. How popular will that be with voters? Hint: The answer to that question rhymes with 'it won't.'
Posted Monday, February 17, 2020 8:46 AM
Comment 1 by eric z at 17-Feb-20 12:03 PM
Gary, are you suggesting the Dems will have a brokered convention, or just that you like none of them? Or both? It would be hard to see a strong candidacy arising from a brokered convention; given how choosing somebody to head DNC was such a messed up thing, Perez/Biden and such, and DWS before Perez.
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 17-Feb-20 12:41 PM
None of the Dems' candidates has a personality & their policies stink. Bill Clinton was the last Democrat who had both policies & personality. Your party has run away from that pattern. Perez is terrible but is he worse than Ellison? I don't think so.
President Trump's race to the top
Politico has noticed how effective the Trump-GOP turnout machine is. Their article started by saying "President Donald Trump doesn't have much of a primary fight on his hands - but Republican voters are nevertheless turning out in droves for him, a warning sign for Democrats in November."
It expands on that theme, saying "The efforts are paying off, with Republicans turning out in historic numbers. Trump received more than 31,000 votes in the Iowa caucus, surpassing the 25,000 Democrats who turned out during Barack Obama's successful 2012 reelection bid. Trump's share was more than four times the number of Republicans who caucused during George W. Bush's 2004 reelection campaign. The vote totals in New Hampshire were even starker. The president received 129,696 votes, more than doubling Obama and Bush's totals."
John Couvillon, a Louisiana-based pollster, said "There is a personal vote for Donald Trump that is unshakeable." Couvillon then said "Republican voters are willing to go out" to vote for Trump even though he doesn't have a formidable primary challenge. That presents multiple challenges to the Democrats' eventual nominee.
First, Trump has already identified his voters. Next, he's testing his GOTV operation months before the general election. By the time November hits, President Trump's campaign will be functioning at peak efficiency. Third, President Trump will have plenty of time to define his general election opponent long before his opponent will define himself.
The question is whether President Trump should define Bloomberg as the minority-hating mayor who thinks that he should throw minority students against the wall or whether he should define Bloomberg as a city slicker who thinks that farmers are idiots. My thought is that they should pick both. They both fit.
[Video no longer available]
Does Bloomberg understand that he'll need to flip Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to win the White House? At the rate he's going, he'll be lucky to win Minnesota.
Posted Monday, February 17, 2020 9:50 AM
Comment 1 by eric z at 17-Feb-20 11:56 AM
The Bloomberg candidacy is one of the most interesting things to come along in a while - since Bush the Younger, and how he got elected, twice no less. Even go back to Bush the Elder and his New World Order speech for the equal level of audacity to Bloomberg's wallet running for president. It does cheapen things. Ms. Clinton mentioned as a possible Bloomberg VP, according to Drudge; so how do you guys view that?
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 17-Feb-20 12:43 PM
Hillary as VP is like admitting that Bloomberg will commit suicide by mid-March. Can you picture a ticket with less personality & be less in touch with main street?
Comment 2 by Chad Q at 17-Feb-20 06:31 PM
Old, White, and filthy rich. Bloomberg/Clinton 2020
Barr vs. Deep State prosecutors
This morning, Jessica Tarlov tried pushing the Barr-Stone 'controversy'. It was a pathetic attempt at spin. Predictably, Tarlov implied that it was wrong for Barr to overrule the 4 rogue Deep State prosecutors who recommended that the court sentence Roger Stone to 9 years in prison.
That's BS. Barr is their boss, not vice versa. They take their orders from Barr. The Democrats have hinted that this is a major scandal. That's BS, too. If anything, it's a major scandal that Jonathan Kravis, Aaron Zelinsky, Adam Jed and Michael Marando defied Attorney General Barr's orders. They didn't have a right to do that.
Further, do Kravis, Zelinsky, Jed and Marando think that Roger Stone deserve twice as long of a prison sentence as a rapist? How did Kravis, Zelinsky, Jed and Marando arrive at that sentence recommendation? Have this quartet made a habit of defying their boss's orders? If they haven't, why did they start defying them now?
The thing that Democrats haven't explained is why they think Roger Stone deserves twice as much prison time as a convicted rapist. Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi quickly insisted that there be an investigation. They should be ignored. President Trump should hold a press conference, then tell the nation that the prosecutors lied to Attorney General Barr, then submitted a sentencing recommendation that Attorney General Barr shot down.
Check out this mini-speech by Sen. Schumer about the Barr sentencing recommendation:
[Video no longer available]
This is why Sen. Schumer shouldn't ever be allowed to be the majority leader. Sen. Schumer knows the facts but he's ignored them. This is why timelines matter. Let's go through the timeline.
- The jury convicted Roger Stone of lying to Congress.
- The Deep State prosecutors, the ones that Sen. Schumer called patriots, met with U.S. Attorney Timothy Shea about a sentencing recommendation.
- Shea met with AG Barr. Barr recommended that the prosecutors just lay out the facts of the case and let the judge decide the sentence.
- After the prosecutors met with Shea, the prosecutors insisted on recommending a sentence of 7-9 years.
- When Barr heard about the sentencing recommendation filing, he told his staff to prepare a different filing to reduce the recommendation to 2-3 years.
- When the Deep State prosecutors heard that they'd been overruled by their boss, they resigned one-by-one.
- A day later, President Trump tweeted that the Deep State prosecutors (my words, not his) had mistreated Stone.
- President Trump praised AG Barr for rectifying the situation.
At no point did President Trump contact AG Barr about the Stone sentencing recommendation. AG Barr, however, went on ABC News for an interview:
[Video no longer available]
According to George Stephanopoulos, the prosecutors made their recommendation on "Monday afternoon. Hours later, on Thursday afternoon, President Trump tweeted":
...And a swamp creature with 'pull' was just sentenced to two months in jail for a similar thing that they want Stone to serve 9 years for. A phony Mueller Witch Hunt disgrace. Caught! https://t.co/6baxv3Lvuk
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 12, 2020
Catherine Herridge reported that "Senior DOJ official tells CBS News [that the] Department was shocked to see sentencing recommendation Stone case. This is not what was briefed to Dept. The Dept. believes recommendation is extreme, excessive, grossly disproportionate to offenses."
I repeat: where's the scandal? The prosecutors (Kravis, Zelinsky, Jed and Marando) disobeyed AG Barr's order. When AG Barr submitted a lighter sentence, the Deep State prosecutors either got reassigned or left the DOJ. Now, it's come out that the jury foreperson is a Democrat activist with an axe to grind against both Trump and Stone. The judge (Obama appointee Amy Berman-Jackson) and Stone's defense attorney did a sloppy job during voir dire and let Tomeka Hart (the vitriolic activist) become a juror, then become the jury foreperson.
Let me state this emphatically. If Roger Stone lied to Congress, he deserves to go to prison. He just doesn't deserve to serve 9 years. Democrats should quit their yapping about investigating President Trump. His tweet made AG Barr's job a bit difficult but it wasn't illegal by any stretch of the imagination. PERIOD. Lindsey Graham's Senate Judiciary Committee should investigate the 4 Deep State prosecutors to find out why they made the sentencing recommendation they did despite AG Barr's lighter recommendation.
Posted Monday, February 17, 2020 4:05 PM
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